Andalusi pharmacopeia recipe

Pharmacopeia is a science that becomes more developed in al-Andalus. In the complex recipes appears a large number of animal elements, minerals, and resins, seeds and herbs that were known at the time. “The Pillow Book”, written in Toledo (Spain) en the XIth  by Ibn Wafid XI, contains many recipes, authentic precursor of homeopathy, which give an idea of the amount of product used.

In preparing this clove medicament, for example:

“It takes an uqiyya and a half of cloves, half uqiyya of galanga, one quarter of uqiyya of ginger, three dirhams of long pepper, a dirham of Indian tuberose, nutmeg, pyrethrum and costus, respectively. Grind everything, sift and knead with an amount three times higher than that of all the honey without foam. Drink a mithgal ot this preparation”.

The recipes and dietetics treated of that time also contain fennel, cress, marjoram, safflower, fever few and rough, used in magic rituals in some cultures. Dioscorides says in a  proverb: “If the woman knew the virtues of rough, they will look for it until going to the moon”. The fact is that this herb, like parsley, regulates menstruation.

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